i'm still convinced they are not going to come to an agreement on the fiscal cliff unless compeld to do so by an adverse external event like a sharply lower equity market. lou: and is, you know, i can't imagine a market ever going down as john is suggesting here simply because a government chooses not to funcon. >> well, if it means we're headed into recession, the markets will react. in a typical bear market, stocks sell off by 20%. it's great to have a compromise before the year end, but time is running out. it's not possible. lou: how is it that a treasury secretary responsible for the integrity of the markets, the currency, responsible, indeed, for the financial system of this country, largely, broadly, and internationally, would sink to the level of aolitical operative making statements about we're going over the fiscal cliff and we're ready to go. >> the president put him in charge of the negotiations from his point of view. lou: clever. >> he's wearing two hats at this point in time. consider here, yes, there's a big complicated negotiation that needs to take place, but there'